Levels of a naturally-produced chemical that promotes brain health increase proportionally to the intensity of exercise, according to a joint research project between the Departments of Physiology and Health, Exercise, and Sport Sciences at Texas Tech.
An article written by the researchers describing their studies on the chemical, called Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), appeared in the April 2007 issue of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.
These results may aid in designing exercise programs to maintain or improve neurological health and function, said Lee Ferris, a former doctoral student.
Ferris and his mentor Jim Williams, associate professor of health, exercise, and sport sciences and adjunct professor of physiology, are studying what causes exercise to improve the brain’s cognitive power. They designed a study to test how levels of BDNF and cognitive performance scores changed as a result of different exercise intensities.
“In separate contexts, both exercise and BDNF are known to positively affect cognitive function,” Ferris said. “We wanted to find out whether BDNF is one of the biochemical mediators of this exercise-based improvement in human participants.”
Ferris and Williams managed a research protocol where 15 college-aged students performed a graded exercise test on a stationary bicycle. In the first test, the researchers asked the cyclists to ride to the maximum intensity they could take for as long as they could.
In the second set of tests, the participates took two 30-minute rides at fixed intensities. The two 30-minute cycle rides corresponded to what the participants described as “light” and “hard” exercise. Ferris and Williams measured BDNF levels and cognitive-function levels before and after the tests.
Of the three cognitive assessments performed before and after each test, two showed significantly improved cognitive functions after the “light” exercise and the “hard” cycle ride resulted in significant improvements on all three cognitive assessments.
While the team found that more intense exercises yielded a greater increase in serum BDNF levels, their initial studies did not indicate that this was the cause of the improved cognitive function scores. However, Ferris and Williams believe this may be due to the small sample size of the pilot study and that replication of this work may show a relationship.
Source Texas Tech University
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